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Father and Son Charged in Threats to Stupak

A father-and-son team, reportedly angered over Representative Bart Stupak’s vote for the new health care overhaul, has been charged with threatening to injure the congressman and his family.

Russell Hesch, 73, and David Hesch, 50, have been charged with conspiring to threaten to assault, kidnap or murder a United States official, according to a release from the United States attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Michigan.

The charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Mr. Stupak, a Michigan Democrat who opposes abortion, was the leader of a group of House Democrats that voted for health care legislation in March after President Obama agreed to issue an executive order banning the use of federal funds for abortions.

According to today’s release from the U.S. attorney’s office, the criminal complaint says that vote set off Russell Hesch, who lives in West Branch, Mich. The elder Hesch sent a letter vowing to harm Mr. Stupak and his family to his son David, who dispatched it to the congressman. (The younger Hesch lives in Loveland, Colo.)

The Detroit Free Press has posted a copy of the two-page letter, which accuses the congressman of, among other things, having “defecated on the very words of our constitution.” Signed “The Devil within Us,” the letter asks if Mr. Stupak and his family are prepared for the consequences of his vote.

“I will paint the Mackinaw [sic] Bridge with the blood of you and your family members,” the letter reads. “I will not say when and with who but I will save your blood for the high towers toward the end of this project.”

In a statement released today, Mr. Stupak thanked law enforcement authorities for “ensuring the safety and security of my family.”

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